


Magic Newsies Headcanons

by LonelyThursday



Series: Magic Newsies [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Magic, Canon Era, F/F, F/M, Gen, Headcanon, M/M, Modified Harry Potter AU, Multi, Story plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-30 09:20:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20444783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyThursday/pseuds/LonelyThursday
Summary: Headcanons and universe rules for Maybe It’s Magic, Maybe It’s You





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is like part outline, part headcanon list for a story I want to write
> 
> My anxiety: Posting a headcanon list is dumb and people will judge you  
The logical part of my brain: Who cares of they judge you? They don't know you and you don't know them. And you need people to bounce ideas off of

**Redesigned US Magic Community**  
(if it's not covered anywhere then assume it works the way it does in JKR's universe)

**Education**

Still seven years of magic school, but five years of generalized education in either public, private, or boarding school (like normal muggle schools) then two more years in a specialized school that you have to apply for (like college). The first five years is in smaller schools (smaller than hogwarts) but are more spread out than muggle schools due to the smaller wizarding community then more hogwarts sized specialized schools. (One school for all of America is dumb).

There are magical primary schools, but you could just send your kid to muggle schools if you think they can handle it. The magical primary school just teach normal kid stuff like math and reading, but the teachers are wizards and can handle accidental magic from students. 

**Society**

wizardry is kind of an open secret, muggles don’t know about it, but they just kinda accept things they see as weird things that happen or supernatural things that happen. People love explaining things they don’t understand (what is the quote I’m thinking of and what is it from?). Wizards are a lot more casual, and a lot more in touch with what muggles do and in many ways they just kinda integrate themselves with muggles (like wizard bands will sell music to muggles because muggles won’t really get it, but they’ll buy it anyway). American wizards use normal American currency because it’s just easier that way (and the British wizard currency rules are dumb and confusing). 

**Laws**

not talking to or interacting with nomajs is a dumb law and I’m ignoring it. No verbal spells in the presence of muggles, nonverbal spells are acceptable in front of muggles as long as they won’t suspect that you did whatever just happened (“that pot just flew across the room all by itself, but you didn’t move or talk and you looks just as freaked out as I am”) or they can write off what happened as being a normal thing that could happen (“you always seem to crack eggs perfectly, I guess you’re just really good at it”) or as supernatural things like ghosts (because muggles are gullible)

**Poverty**

_ (not necessarily America specific, just was never addressed anywhere) _

Poor kids, like dirt poor barely eat homeless kids, don’t generally receive proper magical education (the general rule is that if you can get yourself a wand, then you can go to school and get financial aid if needed) so they can’t cast proper spells or channel their magic as well, they’re not obscurial (they’re not oppressing their magic) but they’re not quite wizards. They’re considered to be squibs (they’d probably have a different word for them, but they’d have about the same status as a squib) and are mostly ignored by ‘proper wizard society’. Generally old witches (like nuns or something) give magic control lessons that aren’t about learned spells and such, but are about not having obvious burst of accidental magic in front of muggles. They still have magic, but they can’t really control it, like maybe they’re always warm enough no matter what they’re wearing (they could go out in a snowstorm in a t-shirt and short and still be fine) or no matter how dirty they are when they go to sleep, they always wake up clean. Just small things that they might not even realize they’re doing and probably can’t control, things that trained wizards would either need to cast a spell and keep it up or just aren’t able to do.

**Newsies**

Newsies are too poor to afford wands (especially by age 11) so they’re classified as “Mundanes” (can do magic but aren’t educated) and can mostly just do small unconscious bits of magic (listed below)

**General Newsies Magic***

  * Go to bed dirty, wake up clean (covered in dirt to looks like they bathe regularly)
  * Always warm enough to survive (not necessarily warm, but not gonna get frostbite, can go out in a blizzard and not freeze to death)
  * Instinctively knows if their patron is a wizard or not and can reach into bag and always pull out the correct pape (wizard pape or muggle pape)
  * Never get as injured as they should (can fall out of a tree and only have a large bruise, no broken bones) (they accidentally give Davey mini heart attacks daily this way)
  * Their food is never moldy (that’s what scares Davey about the newsies most, they’ll pick up a moldy donut and all the mold will just… fall off right before they put it in their mouths, and they don’t even _realize _it)

*All canon newsies (minus Davey and Les) can do these. There are other newsies that only sell during school holidays or on weekends because their families (or just they themselves) could afford to get them wands so they go to school most days, and therefore they cannot do these things. They tend to ask cryptic questions to their patrons that wizards will answer in a telling way so that they can grab the correct pape. Les, being young and so far uneducated (cuz he’s 9), picks up the pape trick fairly quickly, but Davey (being educated) doesn’t. 

**Specific Newsies Magic**

  * **Jack** never runs out of paint 
  * Unless he just pours the whole tube out all at once
  * As long as he’s still got paint in the tube then it will refill
  * Slowly 
  * His charcoal never wears down either
  * And there’s just something about his paintings 
  * They’re magical
  * Not so much that they’d break the International Statute of Secrecy, though
  * They’re just… special
  * They make people _feel _things
  * The colors are just so _dynamic _
  * The trees look almost _alive_
  * But not quite
  * His portraits don’t move or talk
  * But there’s still something _lively_ about them 

  * **Race** can change his cigar into a pen(cil) and back again
  * But only if he’s not paying attention 
  * *absentmindedly twirls cigar between fingers* 
  * “Hey race, can you sign this” 
  * “Sure” 
  * *Is suddenly holding a pen/pencil*
  * He tried to do it on purpose once
  * It didn’t work
  * It doesn’t even need to be his cigar/pen/pencil
  * He can do it with someone else’s stuff
  * As long as he’s holding it and not paying attention
  * Has annoyed more than one person by changing their cigar into a pen
  * Or their pen into a cigar
  * The cigar never burns down (is that correct terminology?)
  * The pencil never wears down
  * The pen never runs out of ink

  * **Crutchie** is charming
  * Almost _too_ charming
  * It might be creepy if he wasn’t so charming that you don’t notice 
  * Not a malicious thing, he can just get people to do what he wants
  * He’s still a sunshine boi though
  * Would never abuse his power
  * Mostly he just wants people to buy his papes
  * It’s not his fault if they usually over pay him
  * Or if the baker gives him day old bread for free
  * Or Albert carries him around when he doesn’t feel like walking
  * Those things just _happen_
  * He doesn’t know _how_

  * **Buttons** can fix anything perfectly 
  * Like he’ll be sitting there sewing 
  * And his stitches look so uneven
  * But when he’s done it looks like there was never even a tear there
  * It’s not just clothes
  * But that’s usually what needs fixing
  * Does not work on living things
  * Damn it Jack! I’m not a doctor
  * He can’t fix stains either 
  * When they got Crutchie he found a broken crutch and fixed it for him
  * He just
  * Wrapped a bandage around it
  * And when he checked again
  * It was a whole crutch
  * He can’t just hold the two halves together and wait for them to fuse
  * It doesn’t work like that
  * He has to _try_ to fix it

  * ****Mush**** kinda _is_ a doctor 
  * He’s not a miracle worker
  * But if he dresses your wound then it won’t get infected
  * If he sets your broken bone then it will heal right
  * It won’t heal right away
  * But it will _heal_
  * Somehow always has bandages
  * Just pulls them out of his pocket like
  * “I didn’t know I had this”
  * Can’t fix Crutchie’s leg
  * Also can’t cure colds
  * Or stop the fever from killing you 
  * He’s not a miracle worker

  * **Kid Blink **can catch anything 
  * As long as it’s physically possible 
  * Even if it’s on his blind side
  * With either hand
  * He can’t catch a falling safe or anything
  * Or things that are too far away from him
  * But he likes to catch flies
  * Karate Kid style 
  * Small rocks and wads of paper are no problem
  * He annoys Finch and Sniper with how good he is at catching projectiles
  * Can catch punches thrown at him
  * Can’t necessarily stop them though
  * *wraps hand around fist aimed for his face*
  * *gets in the face with his own hand*

  * **Finch** can hit anything he throws (or shoots) something at
  * He and Blink have wars where Finch tries to hit Blink
  * He technically does because Blink catches it and therefore it hit him
  * But it frustrates Finch that it never hits him in the face
  * His other favorite targets are Sniper, Albert, Jack, and Race
  * He has wars with Sniper too
  * At least he can _hit_ Sniper
  * But Sniper can hit him too

  * **Sniper,** like Finch, can hit anything
  * But only if his target can’t see him
  * Can’t hit a thing if his target can see him
  * Finch can hit him head on but he can fire back the next time Finch isn’t looking
  * Watch out when they join forces though
  * Sniper hits you when you’re not looking
  * Finch hits you when you are
  * When he teams up with Finch they often go after the Delanceys
  * Or the Chaos Bois™ (Albert, Race, and sometimes Elmer)
  * Can’t hit Blink either
  * Stopped trying a while ago
  * Likes to go after rich people 
  * Since if he can get a hit it means that he wasn’t seen
  * Since inanimate objects can’t see, he can hit those no problem

  * **Smalls** can fit through openings that look way too small for him
  * Not dramatically small
  * Can’t fit through a keyhole
  * But between the bars of a jail cell?
  * No problem
  * Always escapes the Refuge
  * It’s not that he shrinks
  * He just kinda
  * Squeezes through 

  * **Specs’s** glasses always have the correct prescription 
  * Even though he never gets new ones 
  * And his glasses never break
  * Like Morris once stole them and tried to snap them in half
  * And they just bent out of shape
  * Then easily bent back
  * He stomped on them
  * No damage

  * ****Romeo** **can literally pull flowers out of anywhere 
  * He often tries to woo girls by pulling flowers out from behind their ear 
  * Or his pocket or something 
  * And it _always_ their favorite flower
  * He does it for the other newsies too
  * Not to woo them
  * Just to make them smile
  * Or help them woo girls
  * Or boys 
  * Except Specs
  * He’s trying to woo Specs 
  * (Specs is wooed, but he has some _chill)_

  * ****Albert’s ****kinda like Crutchie
  * Except instead of charming
  * He’s annoying
  * Not all the time
  * He’s good at getting people off track
  * Annoys Wiesel so much that he doesn’t realize that Albert never paid for his papes
  * Avoids getting arrested this way
  * __Is_ the distraction_
  * Distracts the bulls while Race pulls some shit
  * It somehow helps him avoid being soaked
  * Even he’s not sure how he does it
  * Doesn’t always work though
  * So when he gets soaked the other guy is usually pretty mad at him
  * It never ends well

  * ****Jojo** **has the whole Bible memorized
  * Can recite the whole thing
  * To the letter
  * In English, Italian, or Hebrew
  * Will call you out for misquoting it
  * Is not here for fake Jesus fans
  * Also never loses his rosary
  * Always has it on him
  * Even when he clearly left it on his bed that morning
  * It’s in the pocket

  * ****Elmer’s ****kinda like Jojo
  * But instead of the Bible
  * It’s the Torah
  * Which is weird since he’s never read the Torah
  * Or been to Temple
  * He just
  * Kinda knows it
  * That’s why he’s never “inside the church”

  * ****Mike & Ike** **can swap bodies
  * At any given time
  * Can’t control it
  * “Is that twin Mike or Ike?”
  * “Yes”
  * Always knows which one they are
  * Though maybe can’t quite always tell whose body they’re in
  * Doesn’t always realize that they’ve switched bodies
  * Especially if they’re next to each other
  * It’s easier to keep track of what’s happening if they’re just always together
  * So they stick together as best they can
  * No one else seems to realize that they switch
  * So when it happens mid conversation 
  * It just seems like they’re finishing each other’s sentences
  * But it’s really just one twin finishing his thought
  * In the other body

  * **Davey and Les** start selling so that their family can afford to get Les a wand 
  * Davey goes to a public wizarding school
  * He just finished his generalized education
  * Will start specialized school in the fall
  * Since the strike is in the summer, he has time to sell
  * Les picks up _some_ of the newsies tricks
  * But there’s a reason Magic education doesn’t start until age 11
  * Like he gets the intuition on whether someone is a wizard or not
  * And he can grab the right pape
  * But he could still freeze to death (but it’s summer so they don’t know that) 
  * He also just has normal bouts of accidental magic (cuz he’s 9)
  * Davey does not pick up any newsies tricks
  * But he’s got a formal education so he can generally use spells to keep up with (or surpass) them 
  * He doesn’t usually surpass them because he feels bad that he got an education and they didn’t
  * Just to be clear, Davey can do a lot of what the newsies do
  * But the newsies do it without conscious thought or effort
  * Davey has to actually cast a spell
  * But his are usually stronger
  * He can’t figure out the mold thing though
  * And he would have to constantly recast a warming spell when it’s cold out
  * But he’d actually be _warm_
  * The newsies would still be cold, they just wouldn’t be _dead_
  * Also can’t figure out how Jack’s paints replenish themselves
  * “They’re magic paints, Dave, they do that”
  * “That’s not a _thing_ Jack!”
  * And he doesn’t just _intuitively _know if a person is a wizard or not
  * But he charmed a bracelet that can tell for him
  * And organizes his papes so he can tell them apart easily

  * ****Katherine ****went to Hogwarts
  * Because rich people
  * Her father sent all of his kids to Hogwarts
  * Because it’s more prestigious than any American school
  * Probably because of the history 
  * Katherine was a Slytherin
  * Obviously
  * She graduated right before the strike
  * And is pursuing a career as a journalist
  * Obviously
  * Darcy and Bill also went to Hogwarts
  * Cuz rich people
  * But they were both Ravenclaws

  * Technically if a newsies saved enough money and bought a wand before they turned 17 then they’d been eligible for financial aid to help them get an education
  * But if they bought one after they turned 17 then they could still get and education but they’d have to pay for it out of pocket
  * So they usually will never get one
  * Or they’ll be self taught (as adults)
  * Jack actually has enough saved to get a wand (and had enough before he turned 17) 
  * but his boys meant too much to him and he usually spends it on them when needed
  * Race also has enough saved but he’s kinda like “screw the system I don’t need this” (and he cares about the boys too, shh)
  * Every now and then there is a newsie that strikes it big and leaves for school 
  * They usually sell whenever they don’t have school
  * And they end up losing their unconscious abilities (the ones listed above)
  * But the other newsies are always happy for them
  * They’ll get better jobs as adults with any kind of formal magical education.

**Plot**

  * Basically is the plot of _Newsies_ but with magic
  * Pulitzer owns both a muggle newspaper (The World) and a wizarding newspaper (The Wizarding World) and the Newsies sell both 
  * The strike is still about pape prices
  * Katherine: “Are you selling papers to save up for a wand?”
  * Jack: *scoffs*
  * Cutchie still goes to the Refuge
  * the Refuge is a prison for juvenile wizards
  * Muggles know about the Refuge, they thinks it's a normal juvenile jail
  * Pulitzer doesn't take the newsies seriously because they're "not real wizards" and doesn't seem to realize that they can still preform minor feats of magic
  * Medda is a squib
  * Roosevelt is still the Govenor to the muggles, but he's also head of magical law enforcement
  * Jack is just so happy to see Crutchie at the end that he inadvertently apparates from next to Roosevelt to in front of Crutchie

**Ships**

  * ???
  * I don’t even know
  * Spromeo (Specs/Romeo)
  * Blush (Blink/Mush)
  * Jack/Crutchie


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff I have thought of since posting the first chapter

**Wizard Society**

Ok so forget what I said in the first chapter of this

  * Muggles will be called “nomajs” (like in JKR’s American society)
  * The newsies (and other uneducated wizards) will be called “muggles” (like how “chips” are different things in America and England)
  * Squibs will be called “mundanes”
  * Because let’s face it “muggle” and “squib” are just slang terms and therefore subject to change in different cultures
  * Feel free to debate me on this

  * On a different note, I’m debating whether or not American wizard society in 1899 would be homophobic or not
  * Obviously the newsies wouldn’t be homophobic 
  * But would Pulitzer?

  * Another point, one that _definitely_ isn’t important for plot purposes
  * Are wizards religious?
  * Like any of them?
  * Do they believe in a higher power?
  * Does JKR ever specify?
  * Was Jesus as wizard?
  * I will not throw out any ideas on these topics because as an atheist, all I could possibly do is offend religious people
  * But it’s something to think about
  * The only things that are really important for this universe is that
  * Jojo is definitely catholic, as he was raised by nuns
  * And Elmer is Jewish, more because he knows the Torah is is kinda like “Yeah seems legit” than because of any religious upbringing
  * Who knows what any of the others think
  * Except that the Jacobses are also Jewish… obviously

**Specific Newsies**

  * Oh man
  * I can’t believe I forgot in the last chapter
  * But Crutchie can also predict the weather
  * Very accurately 
  * So he’s probably a little bit of a seer
  * But only for the weather

  * ****Spot** **has a calming touch
  * Like you can be agitated 
  * But when he touches you
  * You’ll feel relaxed
  * But like if he punches someone
  * They’re not gonna be like
  * “Damn I’m so calm right now”
  * They just got _punched_
  * But when a little is having a nightmare
  * They always come to him
  * Or he goes to them if he’s awake
  * Just patrols around the Brooklyn lodging house at night
  * Making sure everyone is sleeping ok
  * Avoids touching people for other boroughs
  * He doesn’t want them to feel calm around him
  * They should _fear_ him

  * ****Henry** **can recreate anything he’s eaten perfectly 
  * Like knows the ingredients
  * Knows how to prepare it
  * The only problem is that he doesn’t have the resources to make things
  * But if he did
  * Basically is illegally downloading recipes
  * Works for baking
  * Cooking
  * Stuff like making sandwiches or salads
  * If he ate it then he can replicate it

  * ****Tommy Boy** **can avoid being seen
  * Like the charm that the Leaky Cauldron has on it that prevents muggles from really seeing it
  * Like you can almost tell that he’s there
  * You almost have a sense of not being alone
  * You can almost see him in the corner of your eye 
  * Only if he doesn’t want to be seen though
  * Obviously it would be hard to sell papes if people couldn’t really see him
  * Usually does this to avoid Finch and Sniper 
  * Or the bulls

  


**Plot**

  * Jack mostly flirts with Katherine to keep his cover
  * But he’s also the kind of person that, upon seeing someone twice in one day, would be really excited about it 
  * And would draw someone without asking first then leave the drawing for them
  * Katherine straight up punches Jack in the face
  * “Gimme your best shot” *gets hit in the face and falls backwards*

  


**Ships**

  * Jack/Crutchie*
  * Ralbert (Race/Albert)
  * Buttons/Elmer

*Not related to this fic, and I know that I’m kinda late to the fandom so the ship name is not gonna change, but Jack/Crutchie should not be called Jackcrutchie it should be called Santa Gay… just sayin  
Especially since Jack/Crutchie/Davey is Threes the Day like yeah more song title puns as ship names please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started writing so hopefully I'll be posting the first chapter of the actual fic in a few days

**Author's Note:**

> Please please please give me feedback and suggestion! Everything is up for debate, and if you don't see one of your faves on the list then I probably didn't have any ideas for them


End file.
